Proving His Restraint
by fmdevil
Summary: After a heated argument with Nami; Zoro feels obligated to prove he can control his, at times, overwhelming strength, and Nami knows just the way how. Mainly fluff, with a little suggestiveness, and light drama.


Yep… I still don't own One Piece, and am slowly starting to become ok with that… besides the fact that Zoro and Nami aren't together yet -_-

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**Proving His Restraint**

Zoro could hear it. He could hear the tapping of a foot directly beside him. It was an impatient tapping, and an angry one. He knew exactly who it belonged to, and knew if he continued to remain silent that the owner of the tapping foot would just get violent. But he continued to ignore it anyway; hoping that maybe, just maybe, the tapping foot and its owner would go away. So he continued to pretend he was asleep. Then suddenly the tapping stopped. But this was not a good thing. He knew what was coming next; hell, he could have even stopped it if he wanted to put forth just a little effort, but he instead chose to just let out a small sigh before the once tapping foot stomped down onto his midsection…

~Flash-Back~

It had been an unusually peaceful day on the 1000 Sunny as the Straw-hats continued on their journey through the New World. Most of the crew had chosen this peacefulness to relax or have a reprieve from the normal chaos that had surrounded them from the moment they had entered the harsh waters of the 2nd half of the Grand Line. But the relaxation was short lived because the resident navigator had taken it upon herself and decided that the crew should use the peaceful day to make sure the ship was in tip-top shape by cleaning, organizing, and doing inventory of their food and medical supply stock. Initially most of the crew grumbled and complained about it, but as she always seemed to be able to, she convinced them that it was something that had to be done.

Franky, Usopp, and Robin been given the task to repair the forward sail that had been torn by a cannon ball during one of their recent confrontations with the Navy, while Sanji, Chopper, and Brook were given the task of doing inventory. With neither of them having any real skills besides fighting; Luffy and Zoro were designated to clean the wooden decks of the ship (plus Luffy had to have been kept away from the food supply while inventory was being done). All the while Nami assigned herself to organize the Library because several of the books fell from the shelves during the recent Navy attack, and then she was going to clean the main bath.

With his 'Three Mop Style'; Zoro made short work of all the decks that he was supposed to clean, and was finished in less than hour. Having been assigned nothing else to do, the swordsman decided to spend the rest of the afternoon by taking what he felt was a well-deserved nap… but he may have chosen a poor location to do so, as he fell asleep on the balcony just outside the library.

~End Flash-Back~

…Zoro sprung upwards to a sitting position as he clutched his midsection after Nami's attack. He glared up at the woman with a dangerous look and let out a low growl before addressing her. "What the hell is your problem witch?"

"My problem is that you have been snoring so damn loud for the last hour that you are shaking the library!" She responded loudly. "Why in the hell aren't you pitching in and cleaning like you are supposed to, you good for nothing lazy ass? I've been organizing the library and cleaning the bath house for hours now, and here you are just lying around and relaxing while everyone else is working."

"Look around witch, I've already finished." Zoro continued to growl up at her from his sitting position. "It isn't my fault that you take too damn long just to do a little cleaning."

Nami took a moment to look over all the surrounding decks and noticed that they were indeed clean, so much so that they were practically shining, but she didn't let her amazement on how quickly he finished his work stop her angry outburst. "Well if you finished so quickly you should have found something else to clean instead of just deciding to relax, or maybe offered to help me, I would like to find some time to relax today too."

"So what you're saying is that you are pissed off because you didn't have anyone to do the dirty work for you for a change?" He retorted mockingly. "Well too bad princess, you're not my captain, and I already did my fair share for the day, so I'll do what I want." A cocky smile came over his face as he leaned his back against the nearby railing and closed his eye to let another nap take him.

"I might not be your captain, but you still owe me a ton of beli and you should have made an effort to help me, even if it was just to try and get me to rethink the terms of your debt." She hissed out at him.

Zoro's only response to her mention of his 'debt' was by letting out a small "Tch" without even bothering to open his eye, which only enraged Nami even further. With her temper starting to get the better of her; she threw a tantrum and did something that she would soon regret.

"Well it's obvious that you're not going to ever even attempt to pay me back or pull your own weight around here without a little incentive!" She furiously screamed at him before reaching beside him and grabbing hold of his most precious of possessions Wado Ichimonji, which had been leaning up against the rail beside him along with his other two swords. "Maybe I just need to hold on to this and hide it in a place where you'll never find it until you decide to quit being a lazy ass baka!" She then went to storm off but was completely stopped by a searing pain shooting all the way through her entire body from the presence of a strong hand tightly gripping her wrist.

Nami wanted to drop to the deck from the pain shooting up her arm, but it was so intense that she was completely frozen in place. She could barely muster the strength to turn her head to look up at the now furious swordsman looming over her with a dangerous look in his one visible eye. "Don't you ever touch one of my swords like that again;" He told her in a low-threatening voice before reaching out with his free hand to retrieve his property from her "especially this one. Do you understand me?"

Nami tried to respond to his threatening question, but found herself unable to do so because of the intense pain that his grip was still causing her. Her body unwillingly fell slightly forward towards his so she could lean her head against his chest, as she fought back tears wanting to escape her eyes. But she received no comfort from his chest as he only tightened his grip on her wrist and asked his question again with more aggression clearly audible in his voice. "I said do you understand me witch?"

The navigator was finally able to nod her head slightly against his chest to confirm that she did indeed understand. She then mustered all of her strength to plea with her angered nakama in a desperate voice. "Plea… Please Zoro; you… you're hurting me."

Immediately after her words registered; Zoro's eye widened in realization and he quickly let go of her wrist. He watched her drop down to the deck on her knees, clutching the wrist that he had been holding to her chest to try and quell the pain. The swordsman froze as he looked down at her in complete horror of his own actions. "Na… Nami; I didn't mean to hurt…" He stammered his words as he started to reach down to place his hand on her shoulder to see if she was alright… only to have her slap his hand away from her before it could make contact.

"Don't touch me." She told him with venom in her voice, before she stood to her feet and started to walk away from him, still cradling her wrist to her chest.

Zoro could only stand in place and watch her make her way to the hatch that led down into the kitchen. He wanted to call out to her, but couldn't find the words. Once she disappeared out of sight; he stood for a couple of moments and contemplated his next move. "Shit." He cursed at himself before grabbing the rest of his swords and putting them in his red sash. He knew what he had to do. He quickly darted across the upper deck, bypassing the hatch that led to the kitchen and heading directly for the railing located closest to the lawn deck. He needed to apologize.

-0-0-0-0-

After descending from the upper deck; Nami made her way through the kitchen, completely ignoring both Brook and Sanji who had tried to get her attention, before exiting and making her way across the lawn deck, still cradling and occasionally rubbing her sore wrist. She passed by Robin who gave her a curious look while the older woman was helping Usopp and Franky re-hang the fully repaired main-mast. But she didn't say anything to Robin, instead she just continued across the deck to go to women's quarters where she had hoped to hide from the rest of the crew as she tried to sort out what had happened on the upper deck.

Part of her wanted to be mad at Zoro, even hate him, for what he had just done to her. But regardless of how much she tried to blame it all on him; she found she couldn't help but blame herself as well. She knew that what she did was wrong: yelling at him for no real reason, and then threatening to use his sword as some type of collateral. That sword was Zoro's treasure; it was as precious to him as her golden bracelet that Nojiko had given her was to herself, if someone had tried to use her bracelet as collateral, she would have probably done the same, if not worse. But Zoro had physically hurt her, something that regardless of how mad at each other they were he had never done before.

She was just about to enter the woman's quarters and lock herself in the room when she chanced one last gaze back to the upper-deck. She was taken aback at what she saw: she watched as Zoro came sprinting towards the railing of the upper-deck, only to leap over it and to land down on the second deck just outside the kitchen, he then sprint down the stairs and across the lawn deck, not even bothering to make eye contact with Robin as he passed her, making a bee-line straight for her. Her body completely froze out of nervousness, slightly fearing that he was coming at her to do her more physical harm. When he reached her; all she could do is look at him, her body slightly trembling as she watched him stand in front of her breathing slightly heavy from the sprint to catch up to her.

Zoro took a deep breath and steadied himself before letting out a very quick "I'm sorry", only to get a confused look from the mikan-head. Her look spoke more than any words ever could; she wanted him to explain what he was apologizing about. With a small a sigh, and a scratch to the back of his head, Zoro elaborated a little bit more. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I wasn't thinking clearly. You know I would never mean to hurt you, right?" He held his breath after asking the last part, almost afraid of her answer.

Nami's body stopped shaking as a rush of relief flooded over her. She let out a sigh of her own before answering him. "I know Zoro. And I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have threatened to use your sword as collateral." She watched the swordsman let out the breath he had been holding in relief before continuing her own apology. "And I realize that you didn't mean to hurt me, I just freaked out is all. I realize that you just don't know how to control your own strength."

After hearing the last part she had told him, the relieved look on Zoro's face turned into an offended one instead. "What the hell do you mean I can't control my own strength?" He questioned her with a narrowed eye. "I can control my strength just fine."

Seeing the offended look on his face; Nami felt she needed to explain herself just a little bit better. "Calm down; I didn't mean you don't have 'any' control, I just meant that you are sometimes too strong for your own good. You're not good with delicate stuff that takes a soft touch."

"Like what?" He almost barked at her. "I can do delicate stuff witch. If you don't believe me, I'll prove it."

The mikan-head couldn't understand what was happening; she could only stare at the marimo-swordsman in bewilderment. She glanced around the deck: somehow hoping that she would find an answer to his sudden change in mood, only to be met with the curious gazes of Robin, who was still on the lawn deck, as well as Franky and Usopp, who were both up in the ropes leading to the top of the forward mast, only to look back at the man still directly in front of her with his narrowed eye still trained on her and waiting for a response. '_How did this turn into an argument where he thought I was challenging him?_' She thought to herself as she let her head look down towards her feet. She let out a slightly frustrated sigh, and her hand went to the back of her neck to rub in between it and her shoulders. '_I don't really want to deal with this right now. I'm tired from cleaning, and now all this drama with Zoro is really starting to stress me out. I could really go for a mass…_'

Suddenly Nami's eyes opened wide as an idea popped into her head. A mischievous smile formed on her face as she looked back into his serious, waiting eye. "You'll prove it to me huh?" Nami's smile widened as she waited for his response.

Upon seeing the playful, mischievous smile on her face; Zoro's resolve faltered for a second, but only a second before he puffed out his chest and glared intensely at her. "Tch, of course. I never go back on my word." He nodded his head firmly to show that he would accept her challenge, despite a part of him still being nervous on what her challenge could be.

Her smile grew even bigger. "Alright, come with me." She told him before grabbing a fist full of his yukata with one hand, opening the door to the women's quarters with the other, and roughly dragging him inside.

Once inside the women's quarters; Zoro stood in the middle of the room confused at what the manipulative woman had in store for him. He watched as she closed the door behind her before addressing him. "Just stand there and close your eyes for a couple of moments." She ordered him before making her way over to her closet.

He wasn't sure if he should comply with her at first, but without a word of complaint, he eventually did so anyway. He could hear movement from over by where she was standing, and the ruffling of clothes. Letting curiosity get the better of him; he warily opened his eye and glanced in her direction, only to notice her completely bare back as she was working off her blue jeans, exposing the orange lace panties she was wearing underneath. "What the hell are you doing woman?" He practically screamed at her in shock. "Why the hell are you getting undressed?"

Hearing the marimo's voice; Nami quickly stood rigid and covered her breasts. "Dammit Zoro..! I told you to close your eyes and stand still for a moment you damn pervert!" Nami screamed at the man as her face flushed a deep shade of red. "Now close your eyes, and don't open them until I tell you to! If you peep at me again, I'll raise your debt so high that your kids will owe me until the day they die!"

"I wasn't peeping dammit." He quickly defended while turning his head away from the woman and shutting his eye as tightly as he could. "What the hell are you up to anyway, and how does it involve me?"

"You'll find out soon enough baka, now just behave and wait until I'm ready." She continued to go about her business of undressing, occasionally turning to make sure that he wasn't looking at her, before grabbing a large-white towel, and wrapping herself with it. Once the towel was around her; she made her way over to her bed, laid chest down on top of it with her feet pointed at the head-board and resting on a pillow, before un-wrapping the towel from around her and moving it so it was only covering her buttocks, exposing her bare back. "Ok, you can open your eyes now." She told him while propping herself onto her elbows, and still taking the precaution of making sure nothing private was showing.

Zoro slowly opened his eye and turned to notice her lying on the bed looking up at him expectantly, but he only gave her a confused look in return. "Well… What the hell did you bring me in here for witch?"

The mikan-head let out a dissatisfied sigh after hearing his question. Part of her had hoped that he would be able to figure it out himself. "You said you could do delicate stuff too right?" She paused after her question to wait for his response, getting only a nod from him to confirm. "And you told me you would prove it. So I'm going to give you the opportunity to prove it." She paused again to let some of her words sink in before continuing. "You're going to give me a full body massage."

The two stared at each other for a moment, with only silence and a couple of blinks filling the distance, before Nami's words finally registered in Zoro's head. "Ehh..?" Was his initial response as his mouth gaped open and he continued to stare at her. She responded to his reaction with a confident nod of her head. "The hell I am!" He yelled at her furiously.

"Now look here baka." She began to tell him as a look of irritation formed on her face from his reaction. "You said you would prove you could handle delicate stuff, and what is more delicate than my body?" Her question only got a defiant grunt from him in response, before she continued. "The way I see it is that I'm the one taking all the risk here. If I'm right and you can't handle doing delicate things; then there is a big chance that you will end up hurting me instead." Her irritated look quickly changed to a mischievous/challenging one. "But if you don't think you can handle it, you could always admit defeat instead."

Zoro felt himself gritting his teeth together as her challenging words set in. "_I'll show this witch what I can handle._" He grumbled under his breath as he approached her. He hovered over her for a moment, cracking his knuckles and giving her a menacing look, as she defiantly looked up at him with only a hint of nervousness in her eyes. "Alright; you're on witch. But you better enjoy it while you can, because it is never happening again."

"Yeah, yeah…" She told him dismissively as a triumphed smile crossed over her face, before she laid down flat on the bed to get comfortable. "Start on the neck and shoulders, and work your way down."

Zoro let a quick image of him wrapping his hands around the mikan-head's neck and strangling her flash quickly in his mind… before letting out a heavy defeated sigh, and decided to get to work. As he placed his hands on her shoulders, and his thumbs on her neck, he couldn't help but notice just how soft and smooth her skin was, and just how good it felt under his touch. He slowly and carefully started to knead her shoulders with his fingers and make small circular motions on her neck with his thumbs. He heard her make a quiet "hmmm" sound as he continued to work on her muscles located in her shoulders and the back of her neck. He applied a little more pressure to them, causing her to let her shoulders relax and another "hmmm" to escape her lips. Feeling more confident in his motions, he applied just a little more pressure with his hands; causing her body to go into a slight shiver, and a much deeper "hhhmmmmm" to escape her lips.

Mistaking her reaction as one of discomfort, the swordsman quickly retracted his hands from her body. "Why did you stop?" Nami questioned him as she looked up at him with a disappointed expression.

"Didn't you just moan in pain?" Zoro asked her with confusion clearly written across his face.

"No" she answered him bluntly. "That wasn't pain baka. It actually felt really good. You're a natural." She then reached out to him, grabbing one of his arms in the process and directing it back on to her shoulders and neck. "Now keep going. I'll stop you if you're doing it wrong."

As Nami settled back into a comfortable position, Zoro brought his other hand back to her shoulder and neck to continue with the massage. He continued to work on them diligently, somewhat amazed at how her body started to completely relax under his touch. He worked on them for several minutes until satisfied with the results and moving on to her upper back. As he began to rub her upper back, in-between and over her shoulder-blades in a circular motion with his palms, occasionally kneading her skin with his fingers, he found himself actually starting to enjoy giving her the massage. He was glad that he could use his hands to bring comfort to her, especially after causing her pain. A slight smile started to form across his lips at the sounds of her light-pleasurable sighs.

Once he felt he had finished with her upper back; he worked his hands down lower to the small of the mikan-head's back. The swordsman was amazed at just how small her frame actually was as he was able to place his fingers on her sides and was still able to work the whole of her lower back with just his thumbs. He continued to work with his thumbs until they brushed lightly over the fabric of the towel that was covering her buttocks. He paused, but only for a moment, as part of him wanted to remove the towel so he could admire what was underneath as he continued his work… But he was soon ripped from the thought when he heard the door to the women's quarters slowly creek open and directed his attention towards it to notice the ship's archeologist stepping through.

Robin said nothing as she entered the room with a book in her hand; she merely closed the door behind, and proceeded to one of the comfy sofas, before sitting down. She had however noticed that Zoro had completely frozen in place upon her entry, and was now giving her a nervous stare without his hands ever lifting from Nami's back. In response to his stare, she only gave him a polite smile.

"This… this isn't what it looks like." Zoro was finally able to mutter while never averting his gaze from the older woman now in the room.

"Oh…" Robin started to say, with her polite smile turning into a playful one instead. "I assumed that you were giving Nami a massage. Did I assume wrong?"

Hearing the other woman's voice; Nami, who had been in a state of oblivious calm, just now noticed Robin's presence. "Oh… hi Robin. What are you doing in here at this time of the day?"

"So nice of you to ask Nami" She began to answer the younger woman without dropping her smile. "After Franky, Usopp, and myself finished repairing the forward-sail I wanted to relax and read a book, but it was getting hot outside and Brook was singing so loudly while he was in the shower that I was finding it hard to concentrate in the library, so I decided to try reading in here. I hope you don't mind my presence?"

"Of course not Robin" Nami answered her sincerely. "This is your room as much as it is mine. I just hope that Zoro being in here doesn't bother you while you're reading."

"It will be no bother at all." Robin finished before opening her book, and beginning to read.

"Zoro, why did you stop again?" Nami inquired from the man who had stayed frozen in place during the two women's entire conversation. "Ah well… You've massaged my back enough, now you can work on my legs. Start with my ankles and calves, and then move up to my thighs." She then lowered her head back down onto the bed to get comfortable again, but noticed Zoro had still yet to budge. "Well come on baka, my legs aren't going to massage themselves."

Finally moving his hands from their spot on her back; he let out a low mumble about a "_damn demanding witch_" before moving his hands to one of her ankles and resuming his task. He also pretended to not hear the small chuckle coming from the archeologist's direction as he began to massage the mikan-head's leg with a light blush forming on his face.

-0-0-0-0-

After finishing the inventory with Brook and Chopper, and fighting off a certain shitty-rubber-bastard of a captain who had been hounding him for another meal, Sanji had decided to engross himself into something that he always found great pride and joy in; preparing a couple of treats for his two lovely angels, which this time consisted of a couple of refreshing juice drinks, that with one of the recipes he learned while spending the two years in the Kamabakka Kingdom, will give both of the women's skin a very healthy glow.

He carefully placed the drinks on a serving tray and exited the kitchen, expecting to find the two women on the lawn deck and hoping that they were sunbathing. But he was soon disappointed to find only Usopp and Franky leaning over a table looking over some blueprints of a future invention they had been planning. "Oi shitheads" Sanji barked rudely at the two craftsmen "Do you know where Nami-san and Robin-chan have gone off to?"

Usopp's normally dark skin quickly paled at the thought of the answer to Sanji's question. Both him and Franky had witnessed Nami drag Zoro into the women's quarters and watched as Robin followed a little afterwards. He was honestly a little afraid to answer the cook because he feared Sanji's reaction to knowing that the swordsman was inside the room with both of their female nakama, but seeing the seriousness of Sanji's intense gaze, he knew he would have to answer him. "Well… I think I saw them both head towards the women's quarters" the sniper began to say nervously "but I don't think you want to bother them."

"And what exactly would make me a bother to Nami-san and Robin-chan, you damn long-nosed bastard?" Sanji spat at said long-nose with a hint of venom to his voice.

After Sanji's reaction; Usopp completely froze in terror as he desperately tried to come up with an explanation on why Sanji shouldn't venture towards the women's quarters, and even though he was an expert liar, he couldn't come up with any reasonable excuse do to the fear of the cook's fiery temper. So he looked to his older nakama and fellow craftsman for help.

Feeling sympathetic for the younger man; Franky quickly tried to cover for him. "What nose-bro is trying to say is: I think they are doing SUPER women stuff in there together. Ya know; like trying on new clothes or something."

Usopp quickly shook his head to try and tell Franky that that was the wrong idea to put into the notorious woman-lover's head… but it was too late. As a mental image of the two women trying on skimpy clothing appeared in Sanji's mind; the cook was across the deck and up the stairs to the women's door in a flash. With his one hand that was not holding the tray with the drinks on it; he adjusted his tie and flattened any visible wrinkles in his coat, making sure his appearance was perfect before bringing his hand up to attempt to knock on the door politely… but he stopped just before his hand made contact with the hard wood because he had thought he heard what he could have sworn to be a sensual moan coming from the other side of the door.

As curiosity started to get the better of him; the cook pressed one ear to the door to confirm he had not just been hearing things. "Hmmm… right there. Keep working that spot." Sanji heard from inside the room, coming from the obvious voice of his lovely Nami-swan.

As images of why the mikan-head could have possibly been moaning came flooding to his brain, a small trail of blood started to escape his nose and his mouth hung ajar. He found himself pressing harder into the door, hoping that he could hear more. And more he did "Harder…" he heard her say followed by another moan. "Oh yeah… just like that." He could feel himself reaching his limit. He knew that if he heard anything more he would be on the verge of a catastrophic explosion of blood flowing freely from his nose, but he couldn't stop himself, he had to hear more. "Oh Zoro… that feels fantastic"…

'_Did she just utter the marimo's name?_' Without a second thought Sanji quickly removed his ear from the door before grabbing hold of the door handle, and furiously twisting the handle so he could fling the door open. Once the door was open for him to look inside, his eyes were met with the sight of his eternal rival with both hands placed onto one of Nami's thighs, diligently kneading it with his fingers before coming to a complete stop at the realization of the cook's entrance into the room. "What the hell is going on here? And why do you have your shitty hands on my Nami-san you damn-shitty-swordsman?" Sanji screamed in an almost panic while pointing an accusing finger at Zoro.

All eyes in the room soon landed on the obvious confused and panicking cook who was still just inside the threshold of the room. Nami was the first to break the awkward silence that was filling the room as she slowly raised her head to look behind her at the swordsman whose hands were frozen on her thigh. "Dammit Zoro. Why do you keep stopping every time someone enters the room? Just keep going." She huffed out in irritation, only getting a small grumble from Zoro before he started to continue. "And what do you want Sanji?"

"I… I…" The cook started to stutter as he desperately tried to process what was going on in front of him. "I just wanted to bring you and Robin-chan a couple of drinks. Why is the damn marimo touching you Nami-san?" Said marimo said nothing to the gentleman-chef, he instead only gave Sanji a death glare as he continued to massage Nami's legs.

"Oh that…" The mikan-head responded as if she forgot that Zoro was even in physical contact with her. "Zoro is just giving me a massage, nothing more."

"If you wanted a massage I would have been more than happy to do so my sweet. Why did you not come to me?" Sanji asked in a pleading voice.

"You already do so much for Robin and I, as well as everyone else around the ship Sanji-kun. I couldn't dare to ask you to do more than you already do." Nami answered him in her manipulative sweet voice. "While Zoro on the other hand hardly does anything at all, so I thought it was only fair that he do something to pull his own weight for once." Suddenly Nami felt some increased pressure on her leg where Zoro had been massaging her, it caused her to wince, but only slightly, before she shot her head back to give him a threatening death stare.

"Hmph…" He responded to her stare with a smug look on his face. "Sorry, can't control my own strength sometimes, remember?" He then proceeded to continue massaging her with regular strength again.

"Everything is fine Sanji-kun, really." She said after returning her attention back onto the cook. "Thank you for the drinks though. Just set mine on the table next to Robin and I'll get to it later.

Sanji dropped his head in defeat and proceeded to walk over next to the older woman before setting the drinks down on the table. "Would you like a massage Robin-chan?" He questioned hopefully, excited at the idea of being able to put his hands on the beautiful woman.

"No thank you cook-san." She answered him politely before her eyes ventured back down to the book she had been reading. "But thank you so much for the drink."

With a defeated look; Sanji made his way towards the exit, but he didn't leave before turning and giving his eternal rival one last death glare and mumbling something about "_I'm going to poison that bastard swordsman one of these days_" and then closing the door quietly as he exited.

Once back on deck Sanji reached into his front coat pocket to retrieve a much needed cigarette. As he reveled in the comforting sensation of the nicotine and smoke filling his lungs, he almost didn't notice his captain bounding up towards him. "Oi..! Sanji..! I'm hungry, cook me some meat!" Luffy excitedly yelled despite now only being inches away from the cook.

Sanji said nothing as he stared at the rubber-man in front of him. His only response was a dangerous look that promised violence to his young captain. Sensing the cook's intent; Luffy started to slowly back away from his nakama so that he would at least be able to avoid the first kick before Sanji gave chase. The blonde man took one final drag from his cigarette before letting it drop to the deck and snuffing it out with his foot. "Let's see how hungry you are when you have my foot in that stupid big mouth of yours, you shitty-rubber-bastard." Clasping one hand onto his straw-hat to hold it in place; Luffy turned so his back was facing the cook and started to sprint off in the opposite direction, all the while letting his trademark laugh "Shishishi" fill the surrounding air as Sanji gave chase.

-0-0-0-0-

Back in the women's quarters Zoro was finishing up Nami's massage. After Sanji had left several minutes ago she had rolled onto her back, making sure her towel covered her breasts and other private areas, so her masseuse could work on the muscles right below her collarbone before continuing to her arms. She watched him in somewhat of a haze as the swordsman gently worked his way down her arm that he had grabbed earlier, pausing slightly before reaching her wrist. The mikan-head took notice of the apologetic look covering his face as he tenderly started to rub soothing circles over the purplish bruises that had already darkened on her wrist from where he had applied too much pressure only a short time ago.

Nami could tell he was disgusted with himself for his rash actions, and honestly knew that he never meant to hurt her. Reaching across herself with her free arm, she cupped a hand loosely over one of his, pulling his attention away from her wrist and to her face. "It's ok Zoro, you're forgiven." She told him sincerely with a genuine smile on her face. The swordsman remained silent, and only gave a slight nod to confirm he understood before letting out a relieved sigh he hadn't realized he had been holding in.

The mikan-head gave the man's hand a reassuring squeeze before finally letting it go and returning to her comfortable laying position. Zoro in return placed her other arm down on the bed beside to confirm that he was finished giving her the massage. "Thank you for the massage Zoro. It was wonderful." She told him honestly with a content smile on her face, getting a small "Hmph" from him in reply. "I'm so relaxed right now that I think I'm going to take a nap before Sanji calls for dinner. So it is your turn Robin."

Confused by Nami's words Zoro looks around the room to try and find the older woman, only to find that she is no longer in the comfy sofa or reading her book; instead she is laying on the other bed exactly the same way that Nami had before the start of her massage, and covered in only a towel. Robin said nothing to Zoro as she simply looked at him with an expectant smile on her face.

"Hell no!" Zoro said in protest aloud so both women could hear him. "I never agreed to give Robin a massage."

"Just do it and quit complaining about it baka." The mikan-head told him while never opening her eyes. "I'm sure Robin has doubts about whether you can handle delicate things as well. Consider it an opportunity to prove it to another person." She could hear Zoro growling at her as he hovered over her and tapped his foot against the floor. "Fine… if you give her a massage; I'll be nice and reduce the interest of you debt by 5%... Please Zoro."

The swordsman dropped his head in defeat and turned to the older woman, while Robin got more comfortable. "Thank you for reconsidering Kenshi-san. I prefer a deeper tissue massage, so would you use more pressure than what you did with Nami?"

Before Zoro got to work on performing Robin's massage, he couldn't help but let a small stream of mumbled curses to escape his mouth.

-0-0-0-0-

About an hour had passed since Zoro had finished giving the women of the ship their massages. He had left the women's quarters after both Nami and Robin nodded off to a comfortable sleep, and he now found himself in the kitchen trying to do the same. Why he had chosen the kitchen to try and do so, he wasn't even sure of, because he now sat at the dining table while leaning on his hand to attempt to use it as a pillow. He had realized that he would not find any sleep there after only minutes of being in the room, due to the fact that he was surrounded by all of his other male nakama who were being boisterous and restless in anticipation of Sanji finishing dinner so they could all eat. Speaking of Sanji; Zoro could feel an overwhelming violent intent coming from the cook towards him, but he continued to try and pay it no mind do to his lack of energy since completing the two women's massages.

"Oi shitheads" Sanji commanded all the men in the kitchens attention from over by the stove. "Dinner is ready…"

But before he could finish what he was going to say he was interrupted by the loud excited voice of his captain. "Yosh" Luffy screamed out as he stood up from his seat in celebration. "Meat!"

"DON'T INTERUPT ME YOU SHITTY CAPTAIN!" Sanji angrily spat at Luffy to show his obvious irritation of the young man's actions. "Now if any of you want to eat, someone go and inform Robin-chwan and Nami-swan." A small "Tch" sound could be heard from Zoro's direction, causing the cook to turn his attention on to his rival as he watched the swordsman rise from his seat in an attempt to do as Sanji had asked, but the chef would have no part of it. "Anybody besides the damn marimo; he has bothered Nami-san and Robin-chan too much already today."

"Hmph" The marimo-swordsman let out as he sat back in his chair. "They didn't seem too bothered about my presence to me."

"Did you say something marimo?" Sanji questioned, with visible violent intent clearly visible on his face. Normally Zoro would be more than happy to oblige the blond-cook with a violent intent of his own, but with the lack of his afternoon nap, he just couldn't find the energy to do so, and chose to give the other man another "Tch" in response instead.

"Fine... I'll do it." Luffy said with a pout because with each passing moment they had to wait for their female nakama, he found himself getting more and more restless. Bounding to the door leading out to the deck, Luffy opened it and… "NAMI! ROBIN! DINNER'S READY! COME ON SO WE CAN EAT!" he screamed out as loud as his lungs would allow.

Finally having enough of the rubber-man's rude actions; Sanji quickly closed the gap between him and Luffy and delivered a powerful downward axe kick to the young man's head. "Damn you Luffy! If I had known you would just scream out over the deck like a damn barbarian I would have just gone and got them myself."

But Sanji's mood quickly changed as he saw the tall (now fully dressed) figure of Robin making her way across the deck and towards the kitchen. He quickly picked Luffy up by the back of his vest and threw him from out of the doorway and across the kitchen, where the straw-hat wearing youth simply sat back in his seat with a smile on his face and no hard feelings for being treated so violently. Sanji on the other hand remained at the door to await the older woman's presence. "Good evening Robin-chan." He greeted her with a polite bow as she entered the kitchen. "Would you allow me to escort you to your seat?"

"Good evening Sanji-san." She greeted him back with a polite smile. "Yes you may." She then proceeded to loop her arm into the cook's as they began to walk towards the table to an empty seat directly next to Franky. Sanji's one visible eye had transformed into a heart as he chivalrously pulled out the chair for her to sit in. Once Robin was seated; Sanji quickly darted back over to the stove to get ready and finally serve the crew dinner.

Suddenly Nami came bounding in the door with a little extra lift to her step than usual. Her hair was slightly disheveled and her clothes a little messy from obviously rushing to put them on just moments before she headed towards the galley. She quickly scanned the room and noticed the familiar green hair of the swordsman with his back to her. She approached him from behind, but didn't address him; instead she chose to address Usopp who was sitting in the chair directly to Zoro's right. "Hey Usopp, go sit by Luffy, I need to sit here tonight."

Her words drew the attention of the entire crew, but especially the sniper's. "But… But Nami; you know I hate sitting next to Luffy at the dinner table. He always steals my food, while he doesn't steal yours as much because Sanji scolds him." Usopp pleaded with her in a pout.

The mikan-head responded to his pout with a quick punch to the top of his head and a scolding of his own. "Go and sit by Luffy baka. I need to talk to Zoro about something." She told him with an irritated look on her face to show that she was serious. Usopp put up no more complaint as he stood from the seat and sulked to the other side of the table, leaving the seat empty for Nami to take.

Once she was seated the entire crew stared at her intently; waiting for her to explain her actions or to begin what she needed to talk to Zoro about, even Sanji (who was in the process of bringing the food he had prepared to the table) and Luffy (who was already stretching one of his hands towards the food).

"Well… What the hell did you need to talk to me about witch?" Zoro finally said feeling that the awkward atmosphere in the room was too much for his liking.

A mischievous smile formed on her face before answering him. "We need to talk about setting up a proper schedule for when you're going to give me my regular massages."

Most of the crews' jaws dropped after hearing Nami's words, except for Robin (who had a knowing smile on her face), Sanji (who had a slightly hurt/angry look on his), and Luffy (who was confused, but it was hard to tell as he had been stuffing his face the entire time).

"Hell no!" Zoro was finally able to spit out getting over his initial shock. "I already told you that it was a onetime thing. To top it off you and that gloomy-woman already managed to get me to give her a massage too. I'm done."

"Oh come on Zoro." Nami practically pleaded in a pout. "But you were so good at it. You can't keep something like that to yourself. You have to share your gift."

"Back up a little bit there Nami-sis." Franky spoke up to see if he could clarify some of the information that most of the entire crew was having problems processing. "So swords-bro gave you and Nico Robin a massage? And it was super?"

"Yes, very super." Robin answered for Nami with an amused smile on her face.

"Ow… if you wanted a super massage there Nico Robin, you could have asked me, and I would have made sure that it wasn't just a little super, it would have been very SSUUPPEERR!" The cyborg exclaimed while jumping up from his seat and into his signature pose.

"It is ok Franky." Robin told him reassuringly. "Kenshi-san did a very good job, but I'll consider your offer for another time."

"You better consider his offer, because it ain't happening again." Zoro stated defiantly while crossing his arms over his chest and his scowl on his face deepened.

"What's a massage?" Luffy finally spoke between chewing; hoping to understand what was going on a little better.

"It is a medical technique for the manipulating of superficial and deeper layers of muscles by the process of rubbing and kneading someone's body with your hands Luffy." Chopper spoke up to try and educate his captain on subject. "It can be used to enhance the healing process of injured joints and muscles, as well as relieve pain, and promote relaxation and wellbeing."

"Oh I get it." Luffy said with confidence. "It is a mystery technique." He stated as he pounded one of his fists into an open hand; causing several of the other crew members to dead-pan.

"Yohohoho… I must ask Zoro-san; did you get to see their panties?" Brook questioned excitedly.

"Neither of us was wearing any." Robin answered brazenly, with her trademark smile never leaving her face; causing most of the male members of the crew to bust out in a simultaneous nose bleed, while Zoro, and Nami blushed furiously from their seats.

After recovering from his sudden nose bleed; Chopper decided to continue with what he had wanted to say. "Regardless of Luffy not being able to understand; if you really are good at it Zoro, you should definitely continue giving massages. It is also a great method of preventive care, and may help to keep the stress levels down on the ship, and would be a great help to me."

"See Zoro; even Chopper thinks you need to continue giving me massages, and he is the smartest doctor we know." Nami told the swordsman in a sickly sweet voice.

"You calling me smart don't make me happy at all asshole." Chopper exclaimed happily as he busted out into his happy-wiggle-dance.

"It isn't happening." Zoro said continuing to be defiant. "There is no way I'm giving everybody on this damn ship massages."

"I don't expect you to give everyone massages." The mikan-head said trying to reassure him. "Just me."

"The answer is still no." He responded.

"Fine… I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this, but desperate times call for desperate measures." The navigator said with a huff before standing from her chair and closing the small gap between them.

"You can hit me, and threaten to indebt me all you want woman, but the answer will still be no."

"Oh Zoro" The navigator said with a sigh before continuing. "I'm not going to hit you or in-debt you." She then proceeded to force her way onto his lap, causing most of the crews' jaws to drop in disbelief. "I was hoping that you would volunteer to give me my next massage" Her voice was sweet and suggestive, to emphasize the suggestiveness of it, she started to use one of her fingers to make small circles on his bare chest, getting an involuntary gulp from the swordsman underneath her. Sanji tried to protest to the scene in front of him, but found it impossible as Franky, Usopp, and Robin were all holding the cook down with a hand covering his mouth so they could see just how far the mikan-head was going to go despite being in front to the entire crew. "That way, when I gave you your reward it would have been a surprise."

Part of Zoro didn't want to ask what she meant; he wanted to just end it all right there and then because whatever she was hinting at was just bound to cause him more trouble and work, but the honest, yet mischievous look in her eyes made his curiosity peak to un-healthy levels and he just had to know. With another nervous gulp, he asked "What kind of reward."

"Well…" She moved her lips only centimeters away from his ear to whisper softly into it. Even though the crew couldn't hear what she was telling him, they all became very silent in hopes to just get an idea of what was unfolding in front of them, even Sanji quit thrashing and became silent. The only hint of what she might have been telling him came from the priceless reaction from Zoro; as his mouth found itself hanging open, his eye widened as far as it could, and his entire face turned a bright shade of red with combined with his green-hair caused him to have the resemblance of a ripe tomato.

Once finished, Nami leaned back to look into his eye with her own, patiently waiting for his response. Zoro reached up to his mouth with one of his fists and "Ahem…"ed into to it to regain some of his composure before focusing his attention completely on her. "Does every night after dinner starting tomorrow work for you?" He responded with the slightest shade of pink still present on his cheeks.

"Perfect." She answered him simply, as a large genuine smile formed on her face.

And even though the day started off a normal carefree day on the Sunny, Zoro now found himself with a new job title on the ship: Nami's personal masseuse. But regardless of how much he would complain about it in the days to come, he secretly enjoyed every moment of it.

**The End**

Author Notes: So… I know it has been a while since my last story, but there is a reason for that = let's just say I've been distracted; not a bad kind of distracted, in fact a very good kind of distracted… we'll just leave it at that ;]

But now I'm going to try and get serious and get back to my writing. I got one more one-shot to go, and then I'm going to begin on my next multi-chap "Taking in a Stray Cat". And just a little spoiler = my next one-shot will be slightly similar to this one in the aspect that it will involve a crew member giving another crew member a massage… but that is all you get for now :p

Well… you all know what to do, but just in case you forgot *leans into whisper* "this is where you review." ;}

Until next time –fmdevil-


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